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First team

The AC Milan first team included 28 players in the 2015/2016 season, six of which had previously come through the Club’s youth academy. Riccardo Montolivo was the captain and he made 35 Serie A and TIM Cup appearances. Ignazio Abate was vice-captain.

Sinisa Mihajlovic was appointed as head coach for the 2015/2016 season. Cristian Brocchi, the Rossoneri Primavera coach, replaced him in April.

Sixteen-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was named in Mihajlovic's starting line-up on 25 October 2015 and remained first-choice No.1 for the rest of the season, going on to play in the TIM Cup final. Extremely talented and highly focused, Donnarumma thus became the youngest goalkeeper to start a Serie A match.

Several other youth players broke into the first team in the 2015/2016 season, including Davide Calabria (promoted to the senior squad at the start of the season) and Manuel Locatelli (from February). A number of more experienced players – Ignazio Abate, Luca Antonelli and Mattia De Sciglio – also came through the Club's academy, confirming the quality of the Rossoneri youth system.

The first team trains at the Milanello training ground in Carnago, in the province of Varese.

The weekly training programme includes both gym sessions and technical/tactical sessions on the pitch, as well as video sittings where the team analyse their own movement and learn about their next opponents.

AC Milan has a video area where every match and training session is recorded (filmed from above). This enables the staff and players to better assess which areas can be improved.

Goalkeepers spend part of the training session with the rest of the squad and part of the session working on specific goalkeeping technique.

The technical and medical staff work with the first team alongside the head coach.

The first team played Juventus FC in the TIM Cup final in Rome on 21 May 2016. Ahead of the match, the players and management – together with delegations from Juventus, Lega Serie A and FIGC – had an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican. During his speech, the Pope encouraged the players to be “champions in sport but especially in life” and to “highlight what is truly good and beautiful by openly displaying true sporting values”. It was a touching, emotional occasion which ended with an exchange of gifts.

Besides their work on the pitch, the players and the coach contribute to the success of various institutional activities organised with sponsors during the year, both in Club settings and by taking part in external initiatives.

The first team, together with the coaching, medical and other staff, also take part in social initiatives. For example, they visit paediatric wards at local hospitals and record video messages for the young patients. Visits to Milanello became a regular event in the 2015/2016 season, offering people who are experiencing particular difficulties the chance to meet their heroes and enjoy a special moment. Similar activities are organised when the first team play away from home. With the help of local non-profit organisations, many informal meetings have been set up with players at the team’s hotel.